Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Tick Up as Market Targets $170 Billion

The markets were more calm than usual on Friday, with no top 10 coin shifting more than 9%. Both the bitcoin price and ethereum price posted minor advances toward new thresholds, while privacy-centric coins made the most significant gains.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

The slight but general upswing in prices allowed the total cryptocurrency market cap to add a few billion dollars. Yesterday, the total value of all cryptocurrencies was $161.8 billion. That rose as high as $165.3 billion Friday morning, although it has tapered to about $164 billion at present.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin Price Targets $4,700

The bitcoin price has recovered nicely from the early week sell-off triggered by the China ICO ban. Once again, the bitcoin price rose less than 1% for the day, but this did lift bitcoin over the $4,600 threshold and ever closer to its all-time high. Now, the bitcoin price now has $4,700 within its sights. Bitcoin rose as high as $4,661 this morning, but at present,` it rests at $4,618. This gives bitcoin a market cap of $76.4 billion.

Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Within the crypto industry, observers continue to remain bullish on the long-term prospects of the bitcoin price. Breadwallet co-founder and CMO Aaron Lasher said that he believes the bitcoin price will cross $250,000 in 10 years, although it will have to overcome multiple bear cycles to get there.

Ethereum Price Hovers at $330

The ethereum price continued to eye $330 on Friday, but it has thus far been unable to hold above that mark. After beginning the day at $326, the ethereum price briefly rose to $332 before pulling back to a present value of $327. This represents a daily gain of one-third of one percent and translates into a market cap of $30.9 billion.

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Ethereum Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

One thing investors should continue to keep an eye on is the uncertain regulatory environment for initial coin offerings (ICOs). Following the China ICO ban, South Korea suggested that they might “punish” ICOs, and the Bank of Russia just issued a public warning about the nascent funding mechanism. These warnings coincide with a report from blockchain-tracing firm Chainalysis that found that 10% of all ICO-marked funds end up in the hands of cyber criminals.

Bitcoin Cash Price Nears $700

The bitcoin cash price declined 3% on Friday, but this is a minor pullback considering it rose nearly 20% the day before. On Thursday, the bitcoin cash price spiked to $694 and appeared poised to cross back over $700 for the first time since August 22. However, the bitcoin cash price could not sustain support for that level, and it quickly fell into decline. At present, the bitcoin cash price is $660, resulting in a $10.9 billion market cap.

Bitcoin Cash Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Privacy-Centric Altcoins Lead the Markets

Privacy-centric Dash and Monero posted the best performance inside the top 10 during an otherwise calm day for the markets. The Dash price rose 7% to $365, enabling it to climb past NEM and attain the 6th spot in the rankings. The Monero price, meanwhile, swelled by 8% to $128, bringing its market cap close to $2 billion.

Altcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Ripple and litecoin each rose about 1%, while NEM and NEO declined by that same percentage. Ethereum classic slipped by 2%, but it still remains at about $18. The biggest decline within the top 10 came from IOTA, which fell 9%.

Posted by Josiah Wilmoth

Josiah is a former ancient and medieval literature teacher. He has been writing about cryptocurrency since 2014, and his work has been cited in Business Insider, NPR, and Yahoo! Finance. He lives in rural North Carolina with his wife and son. Email him directly at [email protected]